J
eff Olin of Vision Capital Corp. takes a unique approach to investing in real estate assets. Unlike most investors who buy hoping prices will increase, Vision Capital seeks to outperform regardless of market fundamentals or valuations. The company invests in companies it believes will rise in value and also aims to profit from declining stocks.
"We don't rely on being bullish for real estate," says Olin, co-founder and CEO of Vision Capital. "We seek to buy real estate cheaper in the stock market than one can in the property market." He cites inefficiencies in the sector that provide investment opportunities.
Vision's long-only investments include grocery store-anchored retail, data centres, industrial space, and manufactured housing communities. The firm is short securities in sectors such as office, self-storage, hotels, and healthcare due to supply and demand imbalances.
The Vision Opportunity Fund LP Class BF has returned 4.2% year-to-date and 10.2% over the past 12 months, outperforming the S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index. The fund's five-year annualized return is 5.3%, with an annualized return since inception in July 2008 of 7.1%.
Olin recently spoke about his investment strategy and highlighted three stocks he continues to own: Digital Realty Trust Inc., Empire State Realty Trust Inc., and First Capital REIT. He also mentioned selling Tricon Residential Inc. after it was taken over by Blackstone Inc.
"We'd rather not compete with Blackstone," Olin says. "We'd rather sell to them, which we've done on four occasions in the past few years." Vision's strategy is focused on finding undervalued assets and profiting from inefficiencies in the market.
